Operation Deliberate Force

Operation Deliberate Force (30 August-20 September 1995) was a sustained air campaign conducted by NATO, in concert with the United Nations ground operations, against the Republika Srpska's armed forces during the Bosnian War. The Republika Srpska's attacks on UN safe areas, including the horrendous Srebrenica massacre, precipitated foreign intervention. As many as 400 NATO aircraft participated in the air campaign, flying 3,515 sorties and dropping 1,026 bombs on 338 Bosnian Serb targets located within 48 complexes. 97% of the targets were struck, and over 80% were seriously damaged. NATO destroyed the Bosnian Serb communications networks, preventing them even from making phone calls. The bombing forced President Radovan Karadzic to agree to peace negotiations with the Bosnian government, and President of the United States Bill Clinton offered the Srpskis and Bosnians a peace deal: there would be one country of Bosnia and Herzegovina, divided into the Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation. American shuttle diplomacy was backed by NATO bombing, angering Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, who demanded that the NATO forces stop the bombing. When told to stop shelling Sarajevo, Milosevic and Momir Bulatovic told the Americans to speak with Karadzic and Serb commander Ratko Mladic directly, and the Americans reluctantly met the Bosnian Serbs. After the Serbs agreed to withdraw their heavy weapons from Sarajevo, the Bosniaks did the same, and NATO ended its bombing campaign. On 14 December 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed, ending the war.